Shattered
by LokiLove24028
Summary: Pepperony is back a few months after the Iron Man 3 incident, however it can't be said that they are better than ever. Tony & Pepper have always had small fights but nothing like this; one where Tony's compulsiveness and narcicism leaves their relationship on the brink of falling apart.
1. Chapter 1

**This is a very short chapter because I just wanted to make sure that the Pepperony People didn't think I was forgetting about them! My parents screwed up my computer after my boyfriend made it the definition of perfect and it's really annoying so I'm writing the beginnings of this story in a notebook right now to type out later! Updates should be coming in quicker now though.**

* * *

><p>"Good Morning. It is now 7:15am. Today is the sixth of April and the temperature is currently 62 degrees. 23% chance of rain today with winds at-"<p>

"Mute."

Pepper yawned and stretched her arms over her head. The fluffy comforter enveloped her in warmth, making her want to dive back under the covers and fall back asleep for the rest of the day. She knew she couldn't do that though. She had a company to run.

That is if her boyfriend let her get out of bed.

Tony Stark snaked his arm over Pepper's waist to pull her back into his chest. She grinned and opened her eyes, deeply regretting it as the harsh light of day basked down on her.

"Morning..." she mumbled as she squinted against the cruel light of morning. Tony nuzzled his face into where her neck met her shoulder and took a deep breath make Pepper shiver as his warm breath traveled down her back.

"Morning, Potts." he mumbled back. Pepper knew what she had to do next... she had to break the news to Tony about their schedule for today. It was never something either of them enjoyed, Tony hating all of the 'boring and unecessary' meetings and Pepper hating listening to Tony whine. She guessed she'd just have to get it over quickly like ripping off a band-aid.

"Well Mr. Stark, today we have a board meetng, a press conference, our annual spring meeting, and then to finish our fun day, a benefit event."

Tony groaned into Pepper's shoulder and then gently kissed her neck.

"Let's just not go. Thatsoulnds way funner to me." Tony proposed in a whiny voice as he did nearly every morning.

"Funner isn't a word, and we're going." Pepper shut him down. She then attempted to get up out of bed, only to be pulled back down again by Tony.

"Come on, Potts. You can't tell me that you wouldn't rather lay here with me for the rest of the day."

Pepper sighed and lied limp on the bed, letting Tony cuddle her as he pleased... not that he was the only one it was pleasing of course. He was right: she'd love to just stay and lie there wit him forever, but if he wasn't going to be responsible, someone had to be.

"Tony... the board of directors will be waiting!"

"Are you trying to get me to stay in bed?"

"Oh, it's not that bad. Stop being such a baby."

"I fell asleep twice last time, Peps!"

Pepper chuckled and turned to face Tony. She could see the top of his bare sucular chest, the rest covered by the comforter. There was still a line of a scar where Tony had had his arc reactor surgically removed. His arms was still wrapped around her waist, the other one propping his head up. His hair was ruffled beautifully all over the place like every time when he had just waken up. His eyes stared deeply into hers, but it was easily revealed in them that Tony was still tired. She loved when she woke up to this sight every morning.

"What?" Tony asked while watching Pepper observe him. Pepper snapped out of her trance for Stark to bend down and kiss her forehead while pulling her into his arms and holding her against the warmth of his chest. Pepper guessed five more minutes wouldn't hurt.


	2. Chapter 2

Tony fiddled with the pen in his hand, twiddling it back and forth. He sat at the head of a table in their usual conference room in Stark Industries, listening to some man drone on and on about the Stock Market and their new investments and other things Tony didn't really care about. It had been a while since he had taken on this role of the prestige and wealthy business man, all dressed up in a nice crisp suit and tie, looking like he actually knew what was going on with his company. That was Pepper's job now, and she did it a hell of a lot better than he ever did. Stark didn't know why he had to even come to these things anymore.

"...skyrocketed after Mr. Stark's presumed death, and even more so after he was found to be alive..." the man carried on dully. How did people stay awake during these things?

Within five minutes, Tony's fiddling was slowing down and his eyelids were feeling heavier. Even though he was getting back into a routine of normal sleep hours after he used to get barely any, meetings never failed to make him feel like the only thing he needed was to curl up back in bed and never come out. And not to mention, the way that guy's voice was perfectly and terribly monotone was the icing on the cake...

Suddenly, Tony felt a sharp pain in his shin as Pepper kicked him with her heels on, _hard. _Tony jerked awake, sitting upright in one fast and surprised movement. The speaking stopped and all heads turned to him. He shrunk back into his chair and shrugged.

"Sorry, I get excited about stocks." he mumbled. No one looked phased as they turned back to the man who had been lecturing them for nearly two hours now. Once he knew their attention was turned away from him, Tony shot a dirty look at Pepper who was already giving him a dirty look back from where she sat to the right of him. She nodded her head towards the boring-as-hell business man to tell him to pay attention, but he just resumed fiddling with everything around him.

**I'm bored**

He eventually texted Pepper. He heard her phone buzz and saw her roll her eyes, most likely already knowing who it was. About two hours in is when he usually would text her and she'd get mad for distracting her but amuse him anyway. Man, he loved her.

**From Pep:**

**Tough.**

**From Tony:**

**But Pepper, I'm reaaaaaaally bored.**

**From Pep:**

**Tougher.**

Tony sighed and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. Standing up, all gazes turned towards him once more. He clapped his hands together and gave everyone a mock-apologetic look.

"Well I'm sorry that I've got to leave the party early boys, but there's some emergency Iron Man business to attend to. I'm really disappointed I can't stay to learn more about numbers, but hey, that's what's next year's meeting is for, right?"

Faces stared blankly back at him, one of them looking utterly confused. There was an awkward silence when Tony was trying to figure out if they'd bought it or not. No one said anything, but he could feel Pepper's eyes shooting daggers through him as he spoke.

"Um, excuse us. We're just going to have a word outside for a moment." she finally said, getting up and putting a hand on his back to roughly guide him out the room. Tony raised his eyebrows at the table of business men and waved as they exited the room, finally ending in an empty hallway lined with giant windows to reveal New York below them.

"_Tony..."_

"Pepper, now's our chance to high tail it outta here." Tony whispered excitedly. She looked completely "off-board" as Tony described it in his head, her arms crossed over her chest and her face unamused.

"This is the first meeting you've been to in ages. You can sit through until the end."

"Do you know how boring this is after fighting bad guys with a flying metal suit?"

"And you can't just use Iron Man as an excuse to get out of things!"

"Pepper it's boring. Boring. Boring. Boring. Boring." he argued, giving her his best puppy dog eyes. Those always worked.

"It wasn't too exciting in the first place either..." she admitted, biting her lip and actually thinking about it.

"See? Come on Peps, I want ice cream. Let's go get ice cream."

"I don't know, Tony. I-" Tony watched as Pepper stopped in midsentence when her eyes traveled to the window on the door to the conference room. Tony frowned in confusion and then followed her gaze to see that they'd accidentally left the door just a bit cracked open, and all of the businessmen were looking at them in pure shock and bewilderment. They must've heard everything.

Pepper seemed to shrink down where she stood, before she opened the door and nervously tapping her fingers at her side.

"Um... Official Iron Man business." she apologized, making Tony want to crack up laughing right there. He was going to get it for this one, but right now, he was enjoying the moment of Pepper having to use one of his excuses when she scolded him so much not to.

Deciding to pull her out of the awkward situation, he took her hand in his and gently pulled her away from the door, leading towards the elevator.

"I can't believe you made me do that."

"Does it help if I say I love you?"

He pushed the button for the lift and looked back into Pepper's unamused eyes. He glanced down at his feet and then back up at her with pleading eyes. It entertained him to drive her crazy, but at one point, he didn't like when she was mad at him. Pepper stared back with the same straight face until she broke, letting her arms fall to her sides as she rolled her eyes. The smallest of smiles crept up on her lips as the elevator dinged and the doors opened.

"Come on..." she gave in, reinforcing her grip on his hand and entwining her fingers in his own. "Let's go get some ice cream."


	3. Chapter 3

"Sir, I highly suggest you-"

"Ah!" Tony yelped when his hand hit an unattached wire beneath the metal plates he was working on. For about a week now, he's been working on rebuilding a suit from scratch after blowing up every single one he had for Pepper on Christmas down in Florida. He didn't regret it after he realized she was right. It had taken both of them nearly dying for him to realize this, but he did. Tony was getting too attached to the suits. It was overly obsessive and was getting in between him and Pepper which was just too much mixed with the fast that he already drove her crazy on a regular basis.

The unattached wire shocked him, causing him to jump back away from the hand armor he was working on. He already had everything else pretty much done. The helmet, the legs, the boots, the back, the chest piece... It was a little different this time in the sense that he had to permanently install the arc reactor directly in the chest plate, since he didn't actually have it in his body anymore. It was a good change though. He wasn't relying on this little light up circle installed inside of him. He felt safer.

Tony took tweezers and meticulously placed the wire in the correct place on the panel deep inside the armor. As soon as he did, the blue light on the palm lit up and it made a powering up noise, the last piece of the puzzle finally finished.

"We are back in business, Jay." Stark said excitedly, stepping back and clapping his hands together while he admired his handiwork.

"Well done sir. And Miss Potts is approaching." his artificial intelligence program responded in an electronic British voice.

Tony turned to see Pepper pushing the glass doors open to the workshop, stepping in with her clacking heels that echoed throughout the spacious room. She always looked good in her tight pencil skirts... today wasn't an exception. He loved this time of day when she got home. She had woken up early to get to work in order to catch up on business matters that Tony didn't care to know about until she nagged him. Sometimes he missed her as his PA. She always there to bother. He was glad that she was running the business now though. She loved it, even when it got hectic, and it made every time she got home all the more special.

"You finished." she observed, her eyes wandering over the pieces of armor laid out around his work space.

"Yes, ma'am." he said cheerily, walking forward to meet her in the middle of the room. She smiled a bit, her subtle peach lipstick perfect on her lips and her hair in a perfect ponytail. It took living with her to fully understand how intense her border-line OCD was. He insisted that she had extreme Obsessive Compulsive Order and she'd freak out and insist she didn't. He really knew how to push her buttons, but he always made it up to her.

"Mmmm..." she mumbled when he encased her in his arms. He felt her petite body in between his arms. She smelled savory like always. He resumed his place where he buried his face in the crook of her neck, nuzzling her and making her laugh and squirm. He knew about every ticklish, sensitive, and vulnerable spot she had and used it to his full advantage. He pressed his lips against the skin of her neck, gently nipping at her as her hand rose to run through his hair to mess it up. She loved to tousle his hair. He never knew why. He did however, know that he loved her more than the world.

"You're awfully chipper." she said as she laid kissed up and down her neck and jawline. Tony smiled at this. He _was _"chipper". There wasn't a reason not to be. He hadn't had an anxiety attack in months, the who Mandarin deal had been terminated, he had fixed Pepper, Happy was being released from the hospital's rehab center for long term injuries in a couple of days, his new Iron Man suit was rebuilt, and he had the most beautiful amazing girlfriend in the world.

"Oh yeah!" he said, suddenly remembering something. He moved his arms to be wrapped securely around her waist, leaning back to look into her eyes. Pepper was smiling, looking back at him with a curious eyebrow raised, ready to see what he suddenly needed to say. "The house will be done in two weeks. It will be empty, but the furniture shouldn't be hard to replace. IIIIIIIIIII was hoping you could do that." he said, tilting his head to the side and giving her the best Tony-puppy-look he could. She rolled her eyes and put a hand on the side of his face, smiling at him.

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't." she said, moving her other hand to play with the hair at the nape of his neck.

"What's the price this time, Potts?"

Pepper leaned forward and pecked a kiss on the tip of his nose and then moved down to his lips. Tony smiled a bit before leaning forward to close the gap between them and press his lips against hers. It instantly started off heated. Her fingers were still toying with his hair and his hands were tugging lightly on her hips. He remembered the first time they kissed as he often did whenever they did this. He remembered how relieved he was that she actually kissed back. It made him appreciate every single kiss as much as the first.

Pepper pulled back and locked eyes with his, their faces only a few inches apart. He watched as her eyes trailed across the features on his face, her smile suddenly growing. Tony frowned and shrunk backwards, suddenly self-conscious.

"What?" he asked, trying to wriggle out of her grasp now. Pepper smirked and hooked a finger in the belt loop of his jeans, keeping him in place.

"Come here." she said, reaching forward and running her thumb over his lips. When they came back, they were the same color of her lipstick, making Tony chuckle. He took his own hand and rubbed the back across his face, trying to get any access lipstick off of himself.

"You're going to be the death of me."

"Because I'm the one who invites terrorists to our house." she said sarcastically. Tony groaned and threw his head back. She never would let him live that one down.

"I. am. sorry." he said, exaggerating every syllable dramatically. Pepper smiled devilishly and released her grip on him, walking to the clean counter in the middle of the workshop. Tony watched as she turned and jumped up to sit on the surface, reaching down to take her heels off. She set them on the floor while still sitting on the edge of the counter, facing him while stretching out an arm in his direction.

"Come make it up to me." she said, holding out his hand to cue him to take. Tony raised his eyebrows and walked forward, taking her hand and pulling his body into hers. Pepper bit her lip through a smile as she wrapped her legs around his waist, pulling him closer. Tony reached up and felt for her hair tie, tugging in gently through her hair, making sure he didn't hurt her by pulling her hair. Knowing Pep though, it slid off perfectly, her soft red curls cascading over her shoulders.

"Is this the price I have to pay for you to take care of the furniture?" he asked, running a hand through the tips of her hair with one hand and using the other the press against the small of her back, feeling her waist against his. They were pressed flush against each other, their faces two inches away from one another.

"Do you have a problem with that, Mr. Stark?" she asked, full knowing that he had no problem whatsoever. He pushed her down, guiding her with the arm around her back until she was lying down on the surface completely, Tony leaning over her with in his Rolling Stones T-Shirt.

"Well if I _must..._" he joked, holding back the urge to moan as she tightened her legs around him, pulling Tony down on her. He pressed his lips against her neck, resuming to kiss her warm skin and trailing down to her collarbone. Pepper's hands were fiddling with the hem of his shirt, starting to pull it over his head. Tony leaned back for a moment to let her, giving him time to unbutton her blouse. Once his shirt was completely discarded and her shirt was fully unbuttoned and opened. He leaned back down as she scraped her nails gently across his back, making him shiver. She knew his sensitivities as much as he knew hers.

Somewhere in between their touching and kissing, her hand traveled up to his chest where his reactor used to be installed, feeling the scar that the surgery left behind. He stopped for a second, their hard breathing filling the air. He held himself over her body and watched as she examined his chest. She did this a lot, so he wasn't surprised.

"It's not going to come back if you stare at it hard enough." he said, making her roll her eyes. She resumed to run her fingers across his skin.

"I don't want it to." she said. Pepper had the same feelings Tony had. She too felt safer, knowing that he didn't was to rely on a small little object for his life. She was just still getting used to the fact that it wasn't there.

"Sir, I must warn you that Colonel Rhodes is on his way down to the workshop." Jarvis's voice came over the PA. Tony jumped off Pepper at the speed of light, both of them jumping into action to compose themselves once again. Tony dove for his shirt on the floor, pulling it over his head, messing up his hair even more if it were even possible. She just _had _to love messing up his hair.

Stark looked up to see Pepper trying to button her blouse as fast as she could, fumbling with the last ones. He bit his lip to keep from laughing while seeing the way her hair was all over the place, lipstick half on-half off, and her shirt hanging of one shoulder and her skirt hiked up. Tony smiled fondly at his hot mess, deciding to help end her struggle. He rushed forward, hearing the elevator door at the end of the hallway outside. Tony combed his fingers through her hair as she pushed her skirt down. She reached up and smoothed down his as well.

"Can't you be a little less obvious?" Pepper asked, looking down at Tony's jeans. He gave her a dirty look and covered his waist where it was clearly visible that his pants had become _pretty _tight in the last couple minutes. He pulled his shirt down over the noticeable bulge in his pants and shifted uncomfortably. Pepper smirked, seeming amused by this. He was about to make a smart ass remark, but they were interrupted.

The door clicked open and both Tony and Pepper whipped around to see Rhodes enter the room, a smile on his face looking like he had something he thought was amusing to tell them.

"So guys..." he said, holding his hands out in front of him as if he was about to get into a long story. Tony sighed and closed his eyes in frustration. This happened much too often. He was beginning to regret giving Rhodey a key and telling Jarvis to let him in to the Tower at all times. Stark glanced over at Pepper, each of them giving one another a knowing look of what was coming next. In that time, Rhodes had already started on one of his lengthy War Machine stories, making big dramatic gestures with his hands and adding sound effects.

"... and then I was like, BAM! Burn this you son of a bitch!" Rhodey exclaimed excitedly holding his hand out as if he were shooting an enemy with his War Machine suite. He was finished at that point, looking at Tony and Pepper, then Tony and Pepper once again to try and search for a reaction. Tony raised his eyebrows at Rhodey and Pepper seemed confused as to what she was supposed to do. Either way, the room was bathed in a complete awkward silence.

"IIIIII interrupted something, didn't I?" he asked, looking between the two.

"Well, actually..." Tony began.

"No, no." Pepper said, looking at Tony with a look that told him to let her handle it. "Not at all."

Tony groaned with frustration. His pants were still much too tight and he realllllly wanted Pepper right now. It was during these situations where he started to get really irritable. Anything else could be interrupted, just not his "fun time" with Pepper.

"Do you want a drink?" she offered, starting to walk with Rhodey out of the workshop. She turned back and gave Tony an innocent look that told him she was doing something everything but innocent. She was dragging this out just to torture him.

Stark watched them go in disbelief. He had to admit, he loved this days where she was extra feisty. It was just making him want her more which made his pants tighter which made him groan in frustration. He watched them walk out the door and start towards the elevator as he pushed down on where he was about to break out of his jeans, hoping to diminish the discomfort, but it wasn't working. Sighing, he followed them out, trying to walk as normal as he could.

Once up in the penthouse, Pepper walked forward casually and reached up for a class out of the cabinets above their heads. She padded over to the group of alcohol glasses and picked up Rhodey's favorite liquor, pouring some into the glass.

"Hey, what's that one War Machine story with the Senator?" she asked, glancing over to see Tony's pissed expression when she did so. He couldn't help as a smile spread across his lips however. She was a sly one.

"Oh well..."

As Pepper was reaching over to hand Rhodes his drink, Tony took his opportunity to rush forward and intercept, taking the glass in his hand and pushing Rhoedy towards the door at the same time.

"Well that was a great time, we'll save that for the books. Shame you have to go, buddy. I really do cherish our time." Tony started saying in one rushed sentence.

"But-" Rhodey started to protest. Tony was persistent and stubborn though. He always was.

"No, no, don't you worry. We'll catch you later. Maybe another War Machine story if we're lucky." Tony pressed the button for the elevator and started ushering a very confused Rhodey out of the room and into the elevator shaft.

"I knew I was getting in the_"

"You have a nice day too." Tony said as the door closed behind him, leaving him and Pepper in the room alone.

"Well, you didn't have to be an asshole." Pepper said, standing in the middle of the living room with her arms crossed over her chest. Tony rushed forward immediately, not letting anytime to waste. He took Pepper around the waist and swept her off her feet pushing her against the kitchen counter and pinning her underneath his body. She wrapped her legs around him and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I'll apologize later." Tony said, brushing it off like it was no big deal.

"You know you can't just do whatever you want."

"Tony Stark will do whatever he wants and will get everything he wants." he said, attacking her neck and full out biting her, making her gasp. He was mostly joking about what he said. He would've believed that maybe three years ago before Pepper started changing him, but thank God she had. Looking back and seeing videos and just remembering how he was like made him cringe. He didn't know why she stayed for so long.

"Remember that we have a Charity Event." Pepper said through heavy breathing as he lied her down on the counter, climbing on top of her and taking her shirt back off as she resumed to remove his again.

"What'd I say about work, nagging, and sex?" Tony asked her, groaning afterwards while she fumbled with the belt of his jeans, sliding it off of his waist and starting with the button. Tony hiked up her skirt and ran his hands over her smooth legs, lifting them by the back of knees as she tightened them around his waist.

"To not mix them." she said, biting her lip and trying to to be loud as he began grinding himself against her.

"But-" she tried to add. "But..." she kept trying to finish her sentence. Eventually she undid his pants and tugged them down, leaving him in his thin boxers against her small amount of underwear. Tony smiled triumphantly, loving when he got her this far into it that she couldn't form coherent phrases. He leaned down and pressed his lip s against hers, Pepper instantly allowing him access to the inside of her mouth.

"Mmm, Jarvis." Tony called out, suddenly remembering. "Don't let anyone up the elevator." he managed to get out before Pepper pulled him down again onto her lips. He teased the strap of her underwear and she did the same to him, both of them eager to get into each other's pants. Everything about her was just perfect. He couldn't have been luckier.

~X~

Pepper closed her eyes and sighed in disappointment and embarrassment for what felt like the thousandth time that night. Tony would not shut up with the sarcastic remarks and the blunt comments and the arrogant essence of his presence. It was only around employees from Stark Industries, otherwise he'd behave around any Charity administrators. At least he was serious about some things. Otherwise, he was a child trapped in an egotistic billionaires body.

"You too, Schwarzenegger." Tony was saying at this point to one of the new officers of the financial branch of their company. The man was pretty big and had a very distinct accent, making him fair game to Tony's teasing and nickname games. "Can I call you that? Schwarz-en-egger." Tony said as if trying it out to see how it sounded on his tongue. Pepper sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose with one hand and resumed holding her Martini with the other. For once, just for once, couldn't he behave? Just one Charity Benefit, that's all she asked.

The new employee looked confused, but seemed to want to go along with it, everyone always trying to impress Tony. Of course they miss the fact that he does absolutely nothing and Pepper does everything, but he always gave her credit. In fact, when he wasn't making rude nicknames or scrutinizing everyone, he was babbling on and on about how amazing she was. Boy, how he had evolved.

"Tony, a word?" Pepper muttered under her breath, smiling sweetly at "Schwarzenegger" and gripping Tony's right elbow in her grasp, hard. She dragged him to the bar as he stumbled along behind her like a lost puppy.

"Ow." he muttered, pulling his arm out of her grasp.

"You're insolent." she said to him, putting her empty glass down on the marble counter and looking out at the large crowd of people dressed up before them. She herself wore a black dress that was pretty low cut in the front with a low back as well, the fabric tight around her waist and flowing past her legs to the ground. Tony specifically liked this one because of the revealing upper part and the slit in the side.

"And you're gorgeous." he said, looking her top to bottom, his eyes glimmering with something that told Pepper that he believed every word of what he said. She tried so hard not to smile, but his stupid play-boy grin and his adorable random sweet comments always made her guard melt down to nothing.

"I hate you."

"I love you."

Pepper smiled and shook her head. He definitely kept her on her feet.

"I love you too." she whispered, tilting her head to look at him. He smiled back content, making her happy to. She didn't know what she would do without him constantly driving her up the wall. Life would be boring, she guessed. For some reason, chaos seemed to follow her everywhere. With Tony, that was alright though. She was perfectly happy with her chaotic life, as long as he was safe. That's all she could hope for at the end of the day.

"Well in that case, may I have this dance, Ms. Potts?" he asked, holding out his bent arm for her to take. Pepper smiled and complied, taking his arm and letting him guide her to where there were people slowly dancing to the music. He looked good in his traditional tux. The sleek black with the white dress shirt and bow tie. The scenario vaguely reminded her of the Charity Ball that Tony had suddenly showed up to so many years ago. He'd watched her all night. She could constantly feel his eyes at the back of her head, but the thing was that at that time, she refused to admit she was glad. She would've never admitted that she got butterflies when he had pulled her onto the dance floor that night and that she had hoped they had kissed on the balcony and that she was more than just hurt after he didn't come back.

"You know what this reminds me of?" Tony was beginning to say and he put a hand on her waist with another joining with her own.

"Yeah, I was just thinking the same thing." she said, smiling into his deep chocolate brown eyes that reflected every single light around them. From day one she had always been lost in his eyes, unable to escape from them. It just took a while to give in.

"Pepper?" he asked, titling his head a cute way, looking at her curiously.

"Hmm?" she asked back, admiring how his hair was perfectly sweeping upwards in the front.

"Why'd you hold back so much? I think it was pretty obvious that I had a major crush on you for the longest time back then." he said. Pepper was surprised he hadn't asked this question before. She sighed as she let him guide her and swaying lightly along with the music in the lobby of the facility, his cologne easily able to be detected from where she stood. She had an especially distinct fondness for his colognes.

"I don't know, Tony. You were... you." she said, trying to find the right words. He looked confused for a moment, but Pepper instantly shook her head.

"What I mean is... you flirted with every girl. Sorry, correction, you did every girl. How was I supposed to know you'd just leave me lonely in the morning like all of the others?" she asked as gently as possible. It was a valuable point, but she didn't know how to get it across in the nicest way possible. Tony seemed to think about this, then nodded.

"Alright, fair point. What else?"

"Unprofessional."

"Okay..."

"Your ego."

"Fair enough."

"Every time I thought it could work, you did something to make it go downhill."

Tony was silent for a while after this. She couldn't read his expression at all. He stared past her, seeming to think this over. Pep really wished he would say something. She didn't mean to upset him, they were just always dancing around each other when she was his PA and he was different back then. Now, their lives couldn't get better.

"Like the balcony?"

"Like the balcony."

"And Natasha?"

"And Natasha. And Ashley. And Olivia. And every single other girl I had to show out after knowing that you had slept with." she said, not even meaning to grow quiet at the end, but doing so anyway. It had hurt like hell when she had to escort a new girl out every morning for him. Every time he had made her feel like he really did care and that he really did want a real relationship with her, there'd be another girl in his bed the same night and they'd start the process all over again.

"I'm sorry." he said in all sincerity.

"I'm glad things worked out the way they did." Pepper said, reaching up a hand to put it at the side of his face, running her thumb lightly across his cheekbone. He smiled and looked into her eyes. She wondered if hers had the same effect on him as his did on her. He leaned his head a little further into her hand so she played with the hair above his ear, causing him to close his eyes in contentment.

"Do you want to go home soon?" she asked, noting about how tired he looked.

"No, this is important to you." he answered plainly as they continued to gently slow dance along to more jazz songs.

"Alright, now I _know _you must be tired." she joked.

"Hey, I care to a degree." Tony objected, opening his eyes to look into hers sincerely.

"So do I, which is why I'm getting you some to sleep."

They left ten minutes after that. Their car was outside, some random driver in the front since Happy was still in the hospital for a day or two more. Pepper was able to drag Tony in the back, letting him collapse on her lap and rest his head on her legs. He was asleep in a couple instants, Pepper instantly going for his hair. It was the softest and best thing she loved to feel. Not to mention, it was overly adorable whenever he woke up looking like he'd been through a tornado.

"Hey, Pep?" he asked sleepily.

"Hey, Tony?"

"Heh..." he chuckled. "Well played, Potts."

She was pretty sure he had no idea what he was saying, which made it all the better. She loved when he talked in a half sleep, half conscious mode. She found out a lot when he was in this stage too.

"I am in love." he said quietly, nuzzling himself into her lap. She pet his hair rubbed his back through his dress shirt since she had taken off his suit jacket.

"Are you now?"

"Mm, hmm. Do you know with who?"

"Who?"

Tony didn't answer after this. He was still on her lap except for the steady rise and fall of his back.

"Tony." Pepper whispered. No answer. He was finally completely asleep. She smiled and leaned down to kiss his head, starting to feel quite sleepy herself. Thank God the Tower wasn't too far. All she wanted was crawl into bed, into his arms and fall into a safe super villain and company free sleep.


End file.
